Ghost of Hyleea
by FrostedPurpleIrises91
Summary: Sequel to "Innocence is Blind". For over four decades, Grievous hid on a remote Outer Rim world in isolation and peace after barely surviving the Battle of Utapau. But with the reemergence of a familiar soul in his life, his self-imposed exile might end; which may usher in unsavory results for the cyborg. GGxOC friendship. AU. T for violence.
1. Hazing Ritual

**Hello and thanks for deciding to give this story a go! Some of you may have come here via this story's prequel and maybe some of you stumbled upon here for the sake of curiosity. Regardless, I hope you end up enjoying it. But before you go on and read, allow me to make a few comments about this story.**

**First and foremost, this story is AU; Grievous is alive and well in this story and it will gravitate mostly around him. Also, unlike his belligerent, fiery and short-tempered self that we are so accustomed to seeing in the movie, cartoons and comics, his personality underwent a little change. Please keep in mind that this story takes place around forty five years after the Clone Wars ended so Grievous is now a little older and wiser. He also had plenty of time to think about his life and what he had done and he regrets many of the things he did. However, I promise I'll still keep much of his lovable character intact and you'll still be able to recognize him. Due to this story coinciding around the same time as the Yuuzhan Vong War (which I thought was ridiculous) began, I'm still trying to decide whether to include or even mention the event in this fic. There will also be plenty of OCs in this but there will also be a fair amount of canon characters as well (like Luke Skywalker. That's it for that spoiler though!).**

**For this chapter in particular, I admit it was challenging yet fun to write. I do like to dabble in the horror genre/writing and it came out in this. It was different for sure but I think it came out well. There's a chance some of you might be thinking "WTF just happened" when you finish reading it but hopefully not. Anyway, please enjoy and don't be afraid to share suggestions, constructive criticism or what-have-you. Thanks!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Wars at all. Unfortunately Disney does. If I did own Star Wars, Grievous would live...simple as that. All I own are the OCs I use and the planet, Hyleea.**

Chapter 1 Hazing Ritual

(Hyleea – 26 a.b.y.)

Nightfall had done nothing to discourage the young men from venturing into the darkened and potentially dangerous planetary forest. Without a care at all in their arrogant yet impressionable minds and with a few blaster pistols on their hips, the teenagers had vacated the warm and familiar atmosphere of the small colony they called home. One of the lads had glanced over his shoulder, seeing soft and inviting glows of light from his neighbors' windows before he turned his back on them again. His brother and two friends pressed on deeper into the woodlands, all feeling a little anxious and frightened but not daring to let their comrades in on their own private insecurities. The band would do what was necessary and hurry back home before their parents could find out that they had disobeyed their orders to remain within the colony after sunset. Luckily for them, the light of a single, large and full moon led them to where they were going and provided them with ample luminosity to press onwards.

"So…" the youngest member of the group, a Human, spoke up. "…where exactly are we going again?"

"Det, stop worrying, everything will be fine," Det's older brother, Pyrus, scolded him. "It's not too far away. Dad described the place to me where the incident occurred. There's a dead tree in a clearing. That's the place where we used to play when we were little, remember?"

"Is little Det getting a little spooked?" their Nautolan friend, Tikal, playfully teased the inductee.

"Shut up, Tikal!" Det lashed out. "I just don't want to end up getting ripped to pieces by a quagak! You know, they've been out and about from hibernation for the past few months and they do consider us fair game!"

"A quagak is the last thing we should be worried about," the last member of the group, a Rodian named Karr, spoke softly. He eyed his surroundings carefully, on the lookout for anything suspicious or hiding in the shadows from afar with ominously glowing orbs that stared back at him.

"It's been three weeks since the last sighting," Pyrus reasoned. "We'll be fine. We've all done it before and lived. Det will live too."

The four boys fell silent and continued their hike into the wilderness. The path they travelled on was often frequented by trappers, huntsmen and some harvesters so it was familiar to them. Since their home, the colony of Sauza, had been established over a decade ago, they had lived there for the majority of their lives. They, along with other children and the adults, had often ventured into the woods to explore the area and harvest necessities from the environment to survive. It was sometimes dangerous to go off into the woods, especially if one was by their lonesome and the colonists nearly always went off in pairs or in small groups to protect themselves. People did go missing, never returning to Sauza and others were found mutilated from an animal attack. For the sake of safety, the elders of the small settlement had voted that unless if it was absolutely necessary, no one was allowed to go out into the wilderness after the sun set. However, there were souls who did break that rule and the boys were just some of those perpetrators. They figured that as long as they could run, they had safety in numbers and had some blaster pistols, they would be alright.

Although the beasts of Hyleea could very well be deadly and intimidating to face and even think about, it became startlingly clear in time that there was something else on the planet that could be even more daunting than the animals. It was almost exclusively seen by the colony's children and the adults themselves had very rarely caught a glimpse of the local legend. As a result of that, their parents never truly took to heart the tales of the strange creature that they had seen watching them from the tree canopies. Instead, they dismissively explained to their offspring that they had seen an odd bird or their imaginations were overactive.

The four boys continued their trek onto the path. As long as they kept pressing deeper into the woods, the path began to narrow and became more overgrown. They knew that their destination was close by and once more, they were thankful they had the moonlight assisting them.

"Det's just afraid that the Skeleton is going to skin him and wear his flesh," Tikal continued to tease his friend.

"Tikal, shut up or I will tug those stupid tentacles out of the back of your head!" Det threatened the Nautolan.

The Rodian youth suppressed a shudder at the mention of the Skeleton. Like Det, he had feared the ghastly figure but he was better at costuming his anxiety than the youngest group member. He had never seen the Skeleton but he had heard a few tales about it from the children who had seen it or from adults who regaled the story to one another. Karr certainly believed in its existence but he had no desire to seek it out and lay his own eyes upon its shape.

"Pipe down," Pyrus scolded his brother. "We're not here to have a screaming contest. We have to be quick with this and head back home. Mom will kill us if she finds out we didn't end up going to Karr's house."

"There's nothing to worry about," Tikal said in a cheerful and upbeat tone. "I don't believe the story at all. Kids are kids and they make up stories like that for attention. Besides, if there was something here, I'm sure Old Byle would've caught it by now or mentioned something about it at a town meeting."

"Byle is a filthy Nemoidian that shouldn't be trusted! He worked on the side of the Confederacy during the Clone Wars!"

"I like him, he's a nice fellow. He never hurt a fly. He worked on a ship as an engineer, technician or something like that. It's not like he was going around killing people. He's not running around screaming 'For the Council!' at the top of his lungs either!"

"Don't like him, don't trust him, it's a simple as that…"

"Say…" Karr cleared his throat. "How much longer do you guys think we have to go? I thought we would be there by now."

Almost as if on cue, the boys took a few steps forward and found themselves in a small clearing. They heard a noise that sounded like the flowing of a stream about a few meters away. In the distance, they spotted a gnarled and tall silhouette of a dead tree that sat across the stream they had yet to spot. Up in the sky, a few wispy clouds began to cover the moon, depriving the four youths of some of their precious light source and guide.

"We're here now actually," Pyrus bit his lower lip. "Careful, everyone. Don't slip on the moss growing on the rocks."

As his brother and his friends began to press on, Det lagged behind. He refused to follow them for a few seconds before peer pressure got the better of him. The younger Human boy jogged up to them before he wedged himself between Pyrus and Karr.

"How long do I have to do this again?" Det asked.

"Five minutes," Tikal answered. "We all did our five minutes and nothing ever happened to us. This might be a little different for you, Det, since this is the location where the most recent sighting was."

Being sure to tread carefully through the stream and have stable footing, the boys stepped into it. Thankfully, they wore thick leather boots that insulated their feet from the chilly mountain water. The same boots also gave them enough traction where they could walk through the ankle-deep stream without too much of a problem. The only real threat the stream posed was moss that grew on the damp rocks that could create slick conditions for anyone who didn't watch where they set their feet on.

"Just what were Junee and Ashura doing out here anyway?" Karr wondered out loud.

Since Sauza was still a relatively small colony as it had been for the past decade, all the residents knew one another. Their children attended the same school and they grew up together. The boys knew the two sisters well and Tikal was their neighbor.

"Their father sent them out to collect some firewood and Ashura, being the idiot she is, decided to go see if the legends of Skeleton were real and went deeper into the woods," Pyrus recounted the tale to his friend. "Junee followed her of course since she's seven and she wanted to stick to her sister's side. They walked along the very same path we just took and stopped at the tree ahead for a little break. Junee begged and pleaded with Ashura to turn around and head back home because she believed the stories and she kept saying that she got the feeling they weren't alone. Ashura laughed at her though and eventually, decided to turn around and head back home. When they turned around to walk back over to the stream and cross it, they saw something jump clear across it and run off on two legs into the woods. They couldn't see it anymore but they could hear it dash through the woods and towards the direction of the mountain. They ran screaming at the top of their lungs back to the colony and told everyone what they had seen."

Off in the same direction where Sauza was established, there was the mountain that was rumored to be the lair of the creature. The colony had been established at the foot of the towering, snowcapped behemoth and had been aptly named Mount Grief due to the fact that some of the settlers lost their lives in trying to climb and explore it. Anymore, only Sauza's senior trapper, Byle and his apprentice, Les, went up to the mountain three times a week to check their snares. Many of the residents believed them to be extremely lucky to go up to the mountain and descend alive and in one piece with the fruits of the labors.

"They didn't see a ghost," Tikal dismissed the tale. "What they saw was a quagak running away on its hind legs."

"Tikal, you idiot," Karr sneered. "Quagaks walk very slowly on their hind legs. They can't jump across this stream on just those legs and run like the wind through the woods! They don't run away from people either as if they didn't want to be seen!"

The ursine quagak was at the top of the food chain in Hyleea's northern hemisphere, only to be rivaled by the odontid, the dominant feline-like predator that ruled the planet's lower half. The quagak was not a docile or meek creature in the slightest bit and was responsible for a few deaths since Sauza had been established. It was a large, bulky and shaggy beast that stood up to eleven feet tall on its hind legs and had huge, serrated teeth to compliment its daunting form. According to Ashura and Junee's report, what they had seen was most definitely not the alpha predator but instead, the planet's legend.

"Maybe it was a mutant quagak then!" Tikal chuckled. "It was no freakish man-skeleton that hunts people for their skins, that's for sure."

Karr rolled his eyes and tuned out his Nautolan companion. Without any other incident, the small group made it to the foot of the tree where the sisters turned around to head back home. In silence, they studied the whitewashed tree that had long since been stripped of its bark and leaves. It eerily reminded them of the entity but they didn't bother to tell each other that.

"Okay, Det," Pyrus nudged his shoulder into his brother's ribs. "Stand in front of the tree and stand there for five minutes. We're going to go back across the stream and wait for those minutes to pass."

"Wait, why are you leaving me here alone on the other side of the stream?!" Det began to panic.

"That's the rule. You have to stand where Junee and Ashura were when they saw it and we stand where it was standing. It's smart in a way if you think about it because we'll give each other cover."

Roughly, Det swallowed. There was no way he was going to get out of this and he was not backing down and showing his elder brother and his friends he was a coward. He had wanted in on their group and unfortunately, their hazing ritual consisted of this. If he stood in that spot for five minutes, he'd earn his place and he'd never have to do this again. Right now, it was at the point of no return.

"A-alright…" he murmured. Det leaned against the tree, feeling a little weak and sick to his stomach. "Go, guys."

"We'll let you know when time is up," Tikal promised. "Then you can run over to us and we'll head back home."

Det only nodded his head. Karr patted his shoulder in assurance and turned his back on him, following the other two youths. In silence and mounting fear, the inductee watched as his friends widened the gap between them from himself. His eyes didn't tear away from their shapes as they took each step. Although he was going to be standing in his exact position for five minutes, no more and no less, Det felt these were going to be the longest and most harrowing minutes of his life. He never even went this deep into the woods this late at night. He had done so during the daylight hours but never at this time. Also, standing in the exact spot where his neighbors had their sighting made it all the more terrifying and disconcerting for him.

They crossed the stream and turned around, facing him from a distance. He could barely make out their silhouettes as long as the clouds veiled the moon and warped his perception. Then he remembered that they had brought some blaster pistols with them just in case if they did run into some trouble. For a moment, he was temporarily comforted by this realization but he wondered that if such weapons would be enough to hold Skeleton at bay if the demonic-looking creature did make an appearance.

"You okay, Det?" Pyrus raised his voice so his brother could hear him over the babbling of the stream.

"Well, thirty seconds in and I'm still alive…" he answered. "It's best to remain optimistic."

Then there were no more exchanges. The other unwritten rule of the ritual was that communication was to be kept down to a minimum. It was to not only make the rite all the more suspenseful and rewarding if the inductee passed the test but there was also a bit of common sense embedded within it. Silence was required if they were to warn one another of dangerous animals that lingered in the shadows.

Det slowed his breath but his heart rate remained elevated. He shut his eyes, thinking that time would go by more quickly if he did that and tried to daydream. Anything would do nicely as long as it took his mind off whatever unpleasant denizens that the forest might be hiding.

About two and a half minutes into the ritual, Det heard something. Something was walking around behind him. His eyes immediately shot open as soon as he heard twigs snap dully about fifty feet away. He had no clue what it was and neither did he want to know. The dead tree blocked his view of whatever was stirring not too far away from his position and he didn't know whether he was unfortunate or lucky to have tree behind him.

"Guys!" Det called. "I hear something behind me!"

"You'll be fine!" Tikal promised. "Karr's counting and you've got a little over two minutes left. You sure it's not a group of fleet-hooves grazing?" The Nautolan boy was referring to the deer-like herbivores that ran rampant and evenly distributed across the planet.

He had a solid point. But something in the pit of Det's stomach told him this was not a shy and flighty fleet-hoof. They were graceful and quiet when they walked through the woods, their footsteps often inaudible and very slight. Unless if this particular fleet-hoof was a huge buck, Det was almost certain this wasn't the creature. Despite his growing paranoia, he attempted to dismiss and ignore the footsteps that were inching closer.

The advancing seemed to halt for about twenty seconds and Det still remained on guard and extremely vigilant of his surroundings. He ceased leaning against the tree and took a step away from it, no longer feeling so safe. He began to fidget in place and he started to feel that he was being hunted or stalked. However, he placed his trust in his brother and friends, hoping that they would alert him if they saw something sneaking up on him.

One minute passed and Det's time was almost spent. He simply could not wait until Karr would announce that the five minutes had passed and he would be permitted to rejoin them. All he could do now was weather out the rest of this torturous experience and then he would never have to do it again. He would return to Sauza alive and in one piece. Bragging rights would be his and he would put the other teenage boys to shame and pressure them to follow in his footsteps.

Then he heard an ungodly sound that made the blood in his veins turn to ice. Directly behind him, on the other side of the tree, he heard loud scratching noises. Something was dragging its claws across the bare trunk.

"PYRUS!" he screamed.

Pyrus' heart skipped a few beats when he heard Det cry out in horror like this. Just by the way he sounded, he was extremely confident that something was going on and he wasn't bluffing or trying to find a way to shorten his time. There was something in his brother's voice that convinced him that the terror he was experiencing was very real. He needed to get away from the tree as soon as possible.

Before he could grab his blaster pistol that hung around his waist or open his mouth to call Det over, he spotted something insidious unfolding around his brother much to the younger boy's ignorance. Slowly, he could see a huge and hulking figure peeking around the other side of the tree. The full moon at last had full reign over the sky once more and its light shone down on the ground, no longer cloaked by clouds. All three of the boys could see an entity looming directly behind Det who was quivering and trembling madly. Even from their distance, they could identify a pair of golden eyes that stood out amongst the darkness.

"DET!" Pyrus howled. "RUN! DON'T LOOK, JUST RUN!"

As soon as the light of the full moon illuminated his surroundings once more, Det had seen that his form was engulfed by a shadow that did not belong to the tree. Ignoring his brother's advice, he shakily turned around. When he did that, he was met with the figure of the Skeleton.

Just as the previous accounts of the entity dictated, it was very tall. In some eye witness descriptions, that seemed to vary by the season when it was encountered, it wore a billowing and concealing quagak skin cloak. It was early summer and the creature did not wear its garment like it did during the late fall and throughout winter. Since it wore no cloak, Det could see its body that helped to christen it the Skeleton. Its frame was eerily reminiscent of a skeletal system and there was no inch of skin or flesh on its body. What made it all the more unsettling and horrifying was that its "bones" almost seemed to gleam and glisten in the moonlight, making it look as if it was made of metal (in truth, it was). Even its hands were bony and its fingers were long and sharp, giving it the appearance that it had claws. Det couldn't see much of its face but what he did see was its golden, vibrant, reptilian eyes staring right back at him that stood out like luminous topaz gems in the shadows.

The four boys were so gripped by horror that all they could manage to do was stare back at the Skeleton. Their pistols were forgotten. The theories they drew up about the creature's origins and the tales they had heard from the witnesses echoed in their heads.

_'…they say he was once a man who crash landed on Hyleea during a blizzard. He survived the crash but was forced to eat his own flesh to survive. Now he wanders the mountains and forests to seek out victims to skin so he can have his flesh back and walk amongst others once more. Only little kids and teenagers see him because he knows the adults won't listen to them.'_

_'I saw him looking at my sister and I when we decided to turn around and head back home when we were exploring. He then jumped across the stream and took off into the woods…he was running off to the direction of Mt. Grief where they say he lives in a cave up near the summit.'_

_'I saw a giant in the woods when I wandered too far away from Mommy when she was picking berries. He was up in a tree having a starring contest with me! We had a staring contest for a little bit before Mommy found me. I told her about the giant sitting in the tree but when I tried to show her to him, he disappeared! She told me I shouldn't lie and make up stories…'_

The spirit of Hyleea then raised a clawed hand and reached out for Det, undoubtedly to claim his hide. Det snapped out of his fear induced spell when he moved and he turned around, screaming at the top of his lungs and bolting away. The other three teenagers then imitated his actions and he watched as the group had ran back clamoring and hollering all the way to Sauza.

Grievous chuckled at the sight. Of course he wasn't going to claim the youth's hide to construct a macabre suit of flesh so he could blend in amongst the galaxy again. But he didn't have any qualms in playing along with them and misleading them to believe he was a cursed, demonic entity. Besides having Byle and Les visit him in the mountains three times a week, he had nothing better to do with his life.

"You four boys will add that to the list of sightings and myths of the infamous and terrifying Skeleton, won't you?" he spoke to himself.

Although he took delight in spooking and jesting with the colony's teenagers, his supposedly sinister and ominous sightings were actually ones of goodwill and concern. Since Sauza's establishment a decade earlier, he very quickly learned that the people desired to be a self sufficient and adventurous people who yearned to explore the unspoiled planet and sustain themselves with its bounty. He was not very concerned about the smarter and hardier adults but his concerns lied with the colonists' innocent and curious children. The cyborg tasked himself as the silent babysitter of sorts for any children who strayed into the woodlands without the supervision of their parents. Of course, no one knew of his true intentions but he didn't mind being regaled as the planet's most enduring ghost story. As long as his true identity was not discovered, he did not mind. He would continue to be a strange sentinel to the young.

He had prowled the woods surrounding the colony long enough on this night and decided to head back to his humble cave on the mountain. Grievous peered into the summery forest, on the lookout for anymore possible teens or anyone who should not have been wandering around at this hour. He lurked around in these woods for over forty years and knew of the area consisting of Mount Grief and its woody expanses very well. Compared to even the colony's worthiest hikers and woodsmen, he was far superior than they were. There were a few times when he had found a dead explorer who had been trying to climb the mountain and took pity on the soul so much so that he ended up burying them in the eternal and never melting snow that capped the mountain.

Grievous quickly located his bow and quiver that he had set against a fallen log that sat a few meters away from where the infamous dead tree stood. He picked up his weapon and strapped the quiver across his back, securing it in place. The Kaleesh cyborg looked deeper into the woods, off in the direction where the boys were running. For a brief moment, he mulled over whether to evacuate the area and head back to the mountain or stick around and resume his previous task of patrolling the woods. Without a doubt, he knew the four youths would tell their parents and neighbors about their encounter but he had noticed that the adults seemed to pay no heed to their tales. Most of them were dismissed and treated as a ploy to grab attention and raise a ruckus.

He didn't need to ponder over his decision for too long as his eyes wandered and he gazed upon his mountain abode. It was so inviting and secure but it was also painfully lonely and forbidding. Mount Grief had called to him yet he also wanted to not return to it just yet. There were no sentient souls waiting for him to return to his cozy and quaint cave. Neither would there be any person who wished for him to join them in Sauza. At this point, it was almost a no-brainer.

After flexing his talons for a few seconds, Grievous launched himself forward and took off sprinting at an incredible gait and speed. It took him awhile to master the loudness of his footsteps, especially when he was running but he had perfected it now. Sometimes it couldn't be helped if he had accidentally crushed a twig while in this act but he didn't sound like a bantha tearing through the forest without a care in the world. The snow provided even more cover for him but he always ended up leaving distinct footprints that would befuddle all but his two friends. During the winter, he often resorted to hiding within the canopies of the trees and jumping from tree top to tree top to avoid his tracks from being seen by too many colonists.

"_I'd be more than happy to roam the galaxy and bee free,_" he told himself within the confines of his mind. "_I'd love to be able to return to my homeworld and see my family again. I'd like to know how many grandchildren I have and how my Ronderu is doing serving as our family's overlord. I cannot have those wishes granted… I have to remain here for as long as I live. This is my punishment…it's especially all the more painful since I find it incredibly difficult to die. The very least I can do to atone for my sins is remain in exile and keep a watchful eye on the children who wander so stupidly from the safety of their parent's side. Someone must safeguard them when their guardians are not in the area._"

Grievous didn't even want to admit it to even himself but he prided himself over his self-imposed duties. He even watched over Pyrus and Det plenty of times from the cover of the trees when they snuck off to explore the woods when they were no older than ten. He knew a great majority of the children's names and he watched them grow up over the years. To his reluctance, he saw that he became somewhat fond and protective of them. Quite a few quagaks were slain by him when they were one mile too close to the children's location. Unbeknownst to the young ones and their own parents, he had saved a child or two with his mere presence; even the local predators were intimidated by him and often backed down or vacated the area when they had caught his scent or saw him. The fauna was frightfully aware of his presence but thankfully the colonists remained ignorant and doubtful of his existence.

Though he wanted to remain undiscovered by all, Grievous couldn't help to not feel lonely. He wished to speak to others besides Les and Det but he had also treasured their company for they were the only friends he had. In truth, he was hoping that loneliness would finally kill him in the end.

* * *

**Apparently I may have succeeded in turning him into Slendercyborg... I know this chapter is kinda weird and may not have that Star Wars feel but rest assured, things will get better. Thank you for reading!**


	2. Words of the Wise

**Hello everyone and thank you for the faves/follows/reviews! I'm glad you all like it so far and I hope you'll stick around until the end. As for this chapter, there's nothing much to say really. Celia will be making her appearance in this story officially with this chapter and soon enough, she'll be meeting up with a certain cyborg once again. Please enjoy the update and leave a review if you like! **

Chapter 2 Words of the Wise

(the next morning – Hyleea)

Pyrus couldn't believe he was actually going to speak to the elderly Neimoidian who was the town's senior trapper. The prideful young Human had staunchly disliked the former CIS engineer but his younger brother had insisted that they talk to him about the matter. Their parents had turned a deaf ear to their sons' fevered and frightening tale of the creature that had almost claimed Det's skin. Instead of comforting them and offering to help them track the Skeleton at dawn, they were grounded and forbidden to leave the safety of the colony's walls unsupervised until further notice. They were certainly worried for their son's wellbeing especially since they had snuck out in the dark of the night but more than anything else, they were furious that they were duped into thinking they were going to one of their boys' friend's home.

Det had suggested that they talk to Byle about their chilling encounter; perhaps the seasoned woodsman would believe them and consider hunting down the Hyleean ghost. At first, Pyrus was set against asking the once Confederate sympathizer for aid and an ear that would listen to them but the fear that his sibling was still reflecting in his eyes convinced him that it wouldn't hurt to visit Byle. Internally, he was certain that like all the other adults in Sauza, no one would believe the earnest and truthful tales that their children told them. But he held onto a fleeting feeling that maybe he would not scoff at them or dismiss them and scold them for creating such ridiculous tales for the sake of boredom and attention.

"You knock," Pyrus said shortly. He nudged Det closer to the door that served as the gateway to Byle's dwelling. "You can do most of the talking too since this is your idea."

"Fine…" Det grumbled.

He rapped his knuckles against the door loudly and strongly. The two Humans held their ground and patiently waited for either the trapper or his Devaronian apprentice to open the door. They didn't need to wait for more than ten seconds when they heard someone advancing to their position.

Then the door opened, revealing the shape of the old, kindly yet rugged Neimoidian. His crimson eyes widened a little in surprise when he saw it was two young and familiar faces. Byle smiled at them despite this and he folded his weathered hands together.

"Pyrus and Det Starfire if I am not mistaken," he greeted them warmly. "What brings you younglings here to my humble abode today?"

Byle was as friendly, if not friendlier and more affable than his fellow colonists. Pyrus discriminated against the alien's past and would never forget that. The Starfire boys' paternal grandfather had served the Republic during the Clone Wars and Pyrus in particular was biased towards treating Republic veterans better than any who may have served the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Even though Byle was one of the colony's elders and he was amongst the most approachable and kindly of Sauza's denizens, the stubborn young Human male was determined to overlook it. He would grudgingly admit he may be a decent soul but he would never publicly say it.

Det took half a step closer and stared straight into Byle's eyes. Unlike his older brother, he admired the trapper. He admired his tenacity and strength. He admired that Byle could still climb the ominous mountain that towered above the colony and descend alive and in one piece, despite his age. The boy had personally known some neighbors who decided to scale the mountain and very often were never seen again. They were often youthful and fit but they had perished and become victims of the blue-toned, two mile high colossus of stone. On the other hand, Byle went up to the mountain a few days a week to check his traps and remain unscathed and alive. In short, he had won Det's eternal admiration and respect.

"Byle, we saw Skeleton last night," Det cut straight to the point. He shifted nervously in place. "We snuck out last night with our friends Karr and Tikal. It was my initiation and we went to the last place where the monster was spotted and we saw him…" His eyes began to water as he clearly recalled the incident. It still felt as real and terrifying as it did when he first encountered it. "He almost killed us all! We took off running back home!"

Byle very well knew of whom they spoke of. Unbeknownst to the Starfire lads and the whole of Sauza, he was actually friends with the creature that haunted the forest surrounding the colony and dwelled up on Mount Grief. He was also aware that he silently and stealthily looked after any children that had wandered away from their parents' sides. The elderly woodsman was also aware that he had taken a delight in spooking teenagers who disobeyed colony conduct and stole away into the woods at night to seek out the grisly phantom. He never had intentions to harm or attack them but he enjoyed chasing after them or making them question whether they really did see that tree move out of the corner of their eyes.

Stepping out of the doorway, Byle walked forward. The door behind him shut and he eyed the boys contemplatively.

"What did you see exactly?" he asked.

"He was very tall and he had piercing gold eyes!" Det exclaimed. "His hands were giant claws! Byle, they could skin a quagak alive with no problem! He..! He almost got me, he almost killed me! But we took off before any of us could die…and yes, we know it was the Skeleton. He had no skin on his bones and it was odd…it almost looked like they were made of metal."

"Well, I suppose it is a good thing you got away in time. Did he say anything?"

"No. We sure as Hell weren't going to stick around and see if he did want to talk!"

Byle chuckled at Det's statement.

"I suppose that was a rather stupid question to ask considering it was that devilish monster," he said.

"Do you believe us?" The desperation and pleading in Det's voice rang audibly. There was so much truth and fear in it that Byle instantly knew right away that they were not bluffing. "Please tell us that you do! No one else believes the stories and it's only little kids and teenagers like us that see that thing! Byle, please..! Have you seen it? Can you hunt it? Can you please kill it or catch it and bring it into town so they will believe us?! You have to do something!"

He had heard about all the tales that circulated through Sauza of his friend. All of the witnesses were indeed children and teenagers. It bothered Byle that many of the adult colonists chose to ignore their children's tales and if he had a son or daughter that had an encounter like the others, he would be concerned and startled. Byle knew that Grievous would not maliciously harm any of them and he had recounted one tale to him that he had slain a quagak with no more than his bare hands and a stone knife when he found it stalking a group of children who were harvesting berries. Conversely, the cyborg did not necessarily do anything to dispel his negative image as the ghost of Hyleea.

Byle was also more than aware of the spooked younglings and the terror they experienced in seeing his form. But when he heard the fear in Det's voice and saw his paling face, he knew that perhaps Grievous went too far. There was a good chance that he and the others were scarred for life and they'd be afraid to even step out of their own homes. Mentally, he made a note to himself to suggest to the fallen droid general that he should stop scaring the living daylights out of them, especially the teenagers. He would never betray his true identity to the colonists but he would also not deny that something or someone was amongst them. There were too many spooked souls to discount the tales.

"I will be honest with you, Det," he started out carefully. Byle lowered his voice. "I do believe that something lurks around the colony. I go up the mountain many times as you know and I have spotted footprints in the snow. They were the same kind as the others had seen before in the woods."

"Byle, thank you!" Det was near tears at this point. He was massively relieved that an adult believed him.

"I cannot deny it like your parents and the others can. You poor kids have seen it so many times and I heard all the stories so I can't really believe you're making them all up."

"Have you seen it?" Pyrus at last spoke up. Both his brother and the trapper were not expecting his sudden involvement. "Everyone thinks the Skeleton lives on the mountain in a cave. Is that true? You and Les are the only ones who go up to the mountain almost every day and come back alive."

"I have seen tracks at the summit and I found a few caves where it might be hiding. And yes, I have seen it." He resisted from saying "he".

Both of the boys' jaws hung in disbelief. They gawked at one another for a moment before returning their attention to their elder.

"What happened?" pressed Pyrus. "How did you live?"

"Hmm, well I suppose I am old and it saw no use in killing me and skinning me so it could use my hide to weave its gruesome coat of flesh," Byle decided to play along. "But it looked at me and I back at it. It then went on its way climbing down the mountain and into the woods below."

"Is it a ghost or is it really something living or undead…or what?!" Det asked with adamant curiosity. He was famished for answers.

"I don't know. Your guesses are as good as mine. We saw each other from a distance. I am just merely lucky I suppose."

"Byle, we're all begging you to find some answers! You and Les are the only ones who can do it! Everyone else who goes up there dies!"

"Not many have gone up there to begin with and for that, I am grateful. Besides Les and I, four other men went up the mountain. They never came back down and I never did find any traces of them. Do I think that the creature killed them? I don't know. But I know I almost died a few times while climbing it and I know for a solid fact that this Skeleton was not the perpetrator. Let me ask you boys a question…"

Det and Pyrus at first were unsure of where this was going but they decided to go along with Byle's inquiry. They fell silent and gave him their undivided attention.

"Ask us," Det urged.

"How do you know that the Skeleton is something evil?" he questioned. "How do you know that he wants to murder you and skin you? Have any children gone missing or found horribly mutilated and skinned? What if perhaps your perceptions on it are wrong? What if, instead of a wicked stalker, it was a lonely guardian that liked to egg on your misconceptions and stories?"

The brothers were rendered speechless and flabbergasted. They had grown up fearing that there was a chance they could end up being hunted and killed by this demon and suddenly there was a proposition that it was nothing more than a solitary watchman who liked to joke around every once in awhile. Yet the way Byle worded his questions prodded and picked at their brains and the longer they thought about it, it started to make a little sense. Even though their young acquaintances and neighbors had experiences, none had been victimized with the consequences that result in death. True, there had been a few people who had died out in the woods but most of the time the local animal was to blame. More adults had died in the surrounding wilderness than children or teenagers…

"In fact, I encourage you to ask what its name is if you should come across it again," Byle smirked. "I'm sure that it would rather run away than tell you its own name."

(Coruscant)

The young boy was concerned about his mother. While he was growing up and getting stronger every day, she seemed to be breaking down and withering with each year that went by. He was aware that his mother gave birth to him when she was almost forty but that did not bother Alaric and he always thought her to be young and beautiful in her own way. His peers often made of him and reminded that she could be considered a grandmother at her age but he ignored them and threw hostile sneers at them. His father was no young buck either but he was a few years younger (specifically, four) than his wife.

The university where Alaric's mother worked as a professor of Human psychology had no staff or students frequenting its halls at the time being due to a small break of sorts being put into effect. A few days ago marked the end of the semester and all the faculty and students were given a month long vacation to celebrate it. That meant that he got the chance of spending more time with his parent and Alaric was overjoyed that it meant he would bond more with her. Her job demanded a lot of her and many times, she was up and out of their home before Alaric even woke up to get ready for school. There were times when she didn't return from the university until well into the evening and her son had not seen her for a day.

His happiness was marred though, when he saw her arthritis swell up and pester her. She had medicine to take care of the flares but she often forgot to take her pills in her fervor to get to her first class of the day on time. Whenever she was forced to sit down due to the pain of her knees, Alaric was sorrowfully reminded that she was no young woman. He loyally waited on her and did what he could to make her comfortable but he was still heartbroken to see her decline like this.

Alaric grabbed one crimson capsule out of the bottle and cradled it in the palm of his hand. Eyeing the form of his mother lying on the couch, he exited the kitchen and walked over to her side to join her. The brown haired lad took a seat next to her and earnestly stared back into the eyes that were the exact same color as his.

"Take your pill, Mom," he said in a strict tone. "You can't forget because you don't have to go to work for a month."

Celia scoffed lightly at her son's command. She wore a small smile on her face as she gazed back at him.

"Thank you, Alaric," she said as she took the anti-inflammatory medication from his hand. "I guess I can't escape those pills while I'm on vacation now, can I?"

"No," her son stated. "I don't like to see you in pain like this."

She placed the pill into her mouth. Celia leaned over and picked up a glass of water that was sitting on the end table next to her. Quickly, she brought it up to her mouth and swallowed down some water that would help her gulp the pill down. Then she placed the glass down on the tabletop where it sat originally.

"Happy?" she asked as she ran her hand through her only child's hair.

"Yeah," Alaric smirked at her.

"Now are you going to act like all the other boys your age and beg me to go off and see your friends?"

"No. I want to spend time with you. I don't get to spend a lot of time with you, Mom."

Feeling unashamed, Alaric moved closer to her. The ten year old snuggled into her side and rested the side of his head against her shoulder.

Celia returned this affection by wrapping her arms around him. She pulled him into an embrace, enjoying the warmth that radiated from his form. Laughing gently, she set a kiss on the top of his head and continued to hold him.

"You're mama's boy, aren't you?"

"So what?" Alaric murmured as he could feel a light blush forming on his cheeks. He decided to change the subject. "Hey, Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I think you, me and Dad should get off Coruscant before you go back to work. We should go to another planet and hang out there. It'll be just the three of us." His eyes lit up as he thought up of a candidate. He then became as animated and enthusiastic as he usually was when he was not worried about his aging parent. "Can we go to Kalee?! You wouldn't take me to the new temple earlier and I want to go see Aunt Kalla!"

It had been a few months since Celia had last visited the backwater Outer Rim world. She and Kalla, her longtime friend, had regularly kept contact with one another via hologram projector. However, the last time they did physically meet one another was at the consecration of Grievous' temple. Celia felt no inclination to visit Kalee especially if Kalla was not going to be there and there was a healthy chance she would not be on her homeworld. Last time she had talked to her, Kalla was en route to Felucia for a botanical expedition and study she was leading. Arguably, Kalla's schedule may have been more demanding than Celia's since the Kaleesh lady was a botany researcher and her work criteria consisted of visiting many alien planets and cataloging the flora there. Kalla's adult daughter, Melica, often tagged along with her mother on these excursions so there was a good chance she too would not be on Kalee.

Celia did have other friends on the harsh world in the form of Kalla's brothers and sisters but it was Kalla whom she was closest with. She also did not like going to the planet without her because she knew that some of the natives were fiercely xenophobic, particularly towards Humans as a result of Kalee's oppression at the hands of the Empire in earlier years. There were a few individuals who sneered at her menacingly when she passed them and some others who spat at her feet when she walked by. Sometimes, she had wondered if she would ever be targeted by any of the locals but she assumed that since she was Kalla's closest friend and since Kalla was the daughter of the planet's greatest and most powerful warlord, any would-be assailants would be discouraged. Kalla and her family members were held in extremely high regard on Kalee and many thought it unintelligent to invoke the wrath of the Sheelal clan.

"I don't think Aunt Kalla or Melica will be on Kalee," Celia said after a few seconds of contemplation.

"We don't have to go there with them all the time!" Alaric tried to reason with her. "I can go hang out with Amon and explore the jungle with him while you hang out with his grandma, Ceres!"

"Amon is the same age as you and I still can't believe his parents and grandmother let him explore the jungles by himself. I do enjoy Ceres' company but she has her hands full with dealing with that grandson of hers. Ceres is getting older like her half brother, Qymaen, anyway."

"Please, Mom?!"

"I will think about it. To be honest, Alaric, I'd like to find a place where I could do some research and also have our retreat at the same time."

Alaric sighed loudly at her words. He rolled his eyes and looked back at her with frustration.

"You work too much!" he complained. "You get a break and you work!"

"Keeping the mind sharp and busy is healthy," she said.

"You aren't going to work on another book are you?"

"No, I don't want to write another book for quite some time… I've caused enough trouble I think."

Alaric fell quiet for a few moments to think about other possible getaway destinations for him and his parents to retreat to. It didn't take him too long to come up with another idea though. His eyes lit up and he smiled at his mother, hinting to what he was about to tell her.

"I have another idea," he said.

"And what is that?" Celia mused.

"Let's go to some place wild! I still want to go to the Outer Rim…how about a planet that doesn't have a lot of people? It'll be fun, Mom! Please?!"

She knew that her spirited son would not relent with this vacation proposal that he got in his head. In fact, Alaric reminded Celia much of herself when she was a child. Even in her advancing age, she didn't mind have an occasional adventure or exciting moment. At first she was wary of his suggestion to travel to a sparsely populated Outer Rim world but she figured that there would be no harm in it. Her husband Ahab would accompany them anyway and luckily he knew how to wield a blaster (it also helped that he was once a Rebel soldier who joined the ranks shortly after the first Death Star was destroyed). The prospect of an uncivilized world also appealed to her since she could indulge in some research peacefully and at her own leisure.

"That's not a bad idea, dear," Celia nodded her head. "Maybe we should do some homework and find out where we can go for our vacation."

"I don't mind that kind of homework!" Alaric grinned.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's get started right now. Let's see if we can find something before your father comes home from work."

(Hyleea)

Normally, the rugged, alpine slopes of Mount Grief discouraged any hikers and explorers from moving swiftly across the rocky terrain. A slip could be potentially dangerous and could either give one broken bones or a one way trip down a ledge, plummeting a few hundred feet. Any one of those scenarios certainly spelled death and the victim would either succumb to the elements, dehydration or the injuries they had sustained if a fall did not kill them. The higher the mountain went up, wildlife became less and less bountiful and Hyleean crested eagles could be the only fauna spotted living at the highest elevations.

However, the mountain's first conqueror saw no need to halt his stride. He roamed and patrolled its area at his own pace, oftentimes dashing across the craggy landscape as if he was running across a flat, grassy plain. The soil may have shifted beneath his metal talons but his footing did not falter as he had quickly made another step to prevent himself from stumbling on the loose ground. The cyborg already had a great amount of agility but just by maneuvering across the treacherous and steep landscape, he had trained himself further and that resulted in him becoming more nimble despite his great size.

Grievous' eyes darted from the left to the right, on the lookout for any brave yet unwise hikers or anything else that would catch his attention. Part of his afternoon agenda consisted of patrolling these slopes and oftentimes, nothing out of the ordinary happened. The most common occurrence that happened was spotting Byle and Les traversing up the mountainside to check their snares and visit their reclusive and reformed half droid friend.

"I should be getting bored with this same routine," he muttered to himself. Due to all his years of loneliness and isolation, Grievous had a developed a habit of saying his thoughts out loud. "Perhaps I will roam around this place for a little while and then descend so I may wander the woods. I still cannot believe those negligent and irresponsible adults allow their offspring to frolic off into the forest without a second thought as to what animals linger in there!"

"Hello!" a voice echoed.

Before his eyes even fell upon the voice's owner, Grievous knew who it was. He peered further down the steep slope and spotted the Neimoidian trapper and his Devaronian apprentice. Byle waved to him, greeting him from afar and inviting him over to join them.

"Good, it has been two days since I interacted with a person," he said with a hint of excitement.

Grievous leapt and bounded over the landscape in order to not keep them waiting. They held their ground and waited for the former Separatist leader to join them by their side.

It only took him about twenty seconds to reach the trappers. He stopped a few feet away from them. His spirits were raised due to the mere sight of his friends. Grievous wished he had the other half of his face so he could smile at them but his voice and eyes were the only things that could indicate his mood.

"Both of you are a sight for bored and restless eyes," he commented.

Les still had somewhat of a difficult time with accepting that Grievous truly had been living in secluded peace for over forty decades on this planet. He would never forget the moment when he had discovered the truth, seeing that he had not been killed on Utapau as the whole of the galaxy had been led to believe. The young man further could not believe his luck upon seeing that the General was no longer as aggressive, bloodthirsty and short tempered as he had been during his more infamous years. He was certainly thankful that Grievous had no interest in killing anyone now but Les' thoughts about him were still undecided due to his villainous past. It was difficult for him to look him in the eye and not be reminded of all the things he had done during the Clone Wars that the young Devaronian had grown up hearing about.

"You know our routine," Byle said as he smiled at Grievous. "If we come up to check our traps we must visit our friend as well. How're you today?"

"Fine, if you must know," Grievous duly noted. "I planned on going down the mountain and into the woods surrounding your quaint colony soon enough. Your fellow colonists are awfully lenient towards the safety and wellbeing of their children."

"I would like to speak to you about that actually."

There was a silence that fell between the three of them. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of rocks lightly crumbling and rolling down the steep hill and the breathing of the trappers. Grievous gazed on Byle with curiosity. Les cleared his throat and hoped the cyborg's volatile and legendary temper wouldn't resurface.

"Yes, go on…" Grievous said.

"Two boys told me that they and their friends saw you last night," Byle picked up. "Of course, they couldn't see you enough where they could possibly discover your true identity but they said it was the Skeleton. They came to me earlier today to tell me about it because they believed I could help them. Those boys were frightened out of their wits… My friend, I think that perhaps you should not frighten the youngsters too deeply as you have done. I know that you do it out of your own personal amusement and you would not intentionally harm them but when Pyrus and Det came to me and poured their hearts out to me, I felt pity for them."

"They should not have been wandering that deep into the wilderness at that late in the evening," Grievous defended himself. He sounded annoyed and somewhat irked. "There are quagaks that lurk in those woods and they could easily get disoriented, lost and end up perishing out there. You should have urged those boys to never do that again. There is a reason why I sometimes scare those foolish teenagers; it's so I can protect them."

"I know you have good intentions in mind. But I also worry that you are frightening them to the point where they will be terrified of even stepping out of their very houses…"

"I have saved plenty of those children and neither they nor their ignorant parents knew about it!" He was becoming more vehement and animated in this discussion. "I diverted a tragedy more than once!"

"And we thank you for it, sir," Les spoke up at last. "You are the silent guardian of those who wander into the woods alone."

"Thank you, Les! I am glad to see that you have realized the more serious and pure hearted side of my vigils."

"I do not mean to offend you or demean you," Byle said respectfully. "I am just merely concerned that someone will see you one day and they will recognize you. You will be exposed and I worry that soldiers will be wandering hills to investigate that witnesses' claims."

"If that is the reason of your concern, then it is utterly unnecessary…" Grievous folded his arms across his chest, concealing the telltale scorch marks on it. "Even if New Republic forces did catch wind of my existence, they would not be able to capture me. I know this planet and its landscape far better than any other soul in the galaxy. I could lose them if I wanted to and evade capture rather well."

Byle had no wish to instigate the cyborg's wrath. He was half tempted to warn him that a few hundred or thousand troops might be able to capture him sooner or later especially if they were determined enough and were properly equipped. The elderly Neimoidian kept his mouth shut and sighed heavily; he could've sworn he was getting too old for fighting with a stubborn and proud Kaleesh warrior. Although it was true that Grievous had changed, some of his arrogance, determination and headstrong qualities remained.

"So you will not at least consider what I've said?" he pondered out loud.

Grievous' eyes narrowed and he blinked. His head lowered in contemplation for a few moments. Then he lifted his masked cranium up and peered back at his two friends.

"If I cease these tasks, they will die," he said. "I cannot and will not stop because I know that if I do, my conscious will hound me and I will be no better than the creature I was over forty years earlier. I must pay for my past sins by doing this."

"We are not asking you to stop," said the Devaronian. "We are grateful for your role as a guardian and sentinel to the colonists' children. Byle only asked if you would stop spooking and pulling frightening pranks on the teenagers." He wet his lips. "And may I ask you a question?"

"You might as well, youngling."

Les lightly recoiled at the demeaning and bitter tone Grievous placed on "youngling". He knew that he was annoyed and certainly did not like being told what to do. Cautiously, he eyed the bow and quiver the cyborg had latched around his back, knowing that he had plenty of years to become a surprising marksman with such a primitive yet deadly weapon. The lightsaber hilt he was carrying around his waist further reminded the young man of just how potent and destructive he could become in a blink of an eye if he had to. Amazingly enough, Les had grown to trust him with his life if it called for it but he still was paranoid of his horrid temper resurfacing and lashing out.

"Why do you insist so heavily on safeguarding the children?" he inquired. "I know you have said it is because you believe they are too young to go out but I think you also care for them…"

"I failed my own children; that is why I have entrusted myself with that task," Grievous curtly cut him off. "Because of the Sith and my crimes, I can never see them again. I need some purpose in my life, you know. For thirty years I was a hermit who wandered around these mountains and forests aimlessly and then when your colony established itself, I saw a chance to redeem myself. Even though there are times when those young ones go into the woods with their parents, I still feel as if I am responsible for protecting them. If you deny me of my purpose, I will go insane." His sneer and sour inflection remained even as he spoke that entire time. Grievous turned his back on the trappers and began to walk away. "I will leave you be for now. I am going down to the woods and take watch."

He did not wait for them to reply and hurried down the mountainside. Byle and Les watched as Grievous quickly disappeared into the tree line where even his large form was swiftly concealed by the dense tangle of trees.

"Don't worry about him, he'll be fine," Byle stated. "He's very conflicted and lonely. I know he means well and he still has a difficult time coming to terms with his feelings. He'll calm down and pretend as if the conversation never even happened."

"I pity him," his apprentice noted. "I think he hates himself but he'd too proud to admit it even to himself."

"It may be a combination of self hatred and the way life had treated him for many years. When I die, you will take my place and I'm sure he will disclose far more things to you than he did to me, Les. I am not Grievous. I cannot say what goes through his mind."


End file.
